Compress for fibrous materials



J. w. WRIGHT ET AL.

COMPRESS FOR F'InRous MATERIALS Fab, 8, 1627. 1,616,838"

Filed Aug- 11, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

JOHN w. WRIGHT AND HARRIS UNDERWOOD, or DALLAS, TEXAS."

GOMPRESS FOR FIBROUS MATERIALS.

Application filed August 11, 925. Serial No. 49,582.

Our invention is a cotton compress par.-

ticularly designed for the r'ecompression of the ginnery bale, i. e., the loosely compressed bale formed at the ginnery, which is of a density of about ten to twelve pounds per cubic foot and .mustbe further compressed to the standard of compression necessary to load a freight car to its rated capacity, upon which the freight charges willbe computed.

Our objects are to provide sucha compress of elemental simplicity in its parts andin which the necessary, operations maybe, so far as possible, performed by power actuated mechanism, thus reducing the manual labor necessary to a minimum, and reducing the cost of operation; to make the mechanism self contained, that is, to providea frame, of strong construction, within which the moving compressing parts move and react; by simplification of the mechanism to reduce its cost and increase efliciency and durability of the compress; and generally to provide an apparatus almost automatic in its operation, requiring. practically, merely the insertion of the ginnery bale and the removal of the fully compressed bale, operations easily performed by unskilled labor. Sucha press is not only. cheap to build and cheap to install, but the apparatus is itself almost fool-proof and immune to the breakage and consequent lossof time incident to more complicated mechanism hitherto.

employed for similar purposes. Incidentally, the first cost of the apparatus is exceed ingly moderate and the cost of compression is low. The ginnerybale, which is compressed at the ginnery is compressed only to a density of about ten to twelve pounds per cubic foot and in ordinary course, passes from the ginnery to a warehouse, where it is stored until ready to be recompress'ed and marketed. From the warehouse, underthe present system, it passes by freight to some central point at which is located a compress capable of recompressing the bale to the standarddensity required to load a freight car to its ratedcapacity. It isobvious that the relatively bulky ginnery bale must occupy a relatively large space in the ware-.

house and obvious also that the freight to the central-point'must be higher per bale owing to the inability to loada car to capacity. Our compress is designed to'be located at the initial warehousing point, to compress the bale before going into storagc,,thi.is reducing the storage space necessary and in effecti11- creasing the storage capacity of the warehouse and also reducing insurance charges. When the cotton is sold it is ready for shipment from the warehouse directto the consumer, in a fully loaded car entirely eliminating the transportation to the'central compress,'as above described, at ajconsiderable economic saving in time, freight and insurance andrehandling charges. I

Our compress is not only cheap to install and operate. but, owing to the fact that the period of compression ismuch longer than that of the great central compress, .the bale is much more uniform in density-owing to the fact that'time is given for the escape ofair,

with the result that an undue compression is I not given to a part of the-bale, resultingin deterioration of the staple. Due also to the fact that the act of compression is comparatively slow, \while a'mply fast for the designed use, the power required is not great. v

Our invention broadly consists in the provision of a compressfrom which the familiar bale box of previous machines is eliminated, so that our compressmay properly be described as a box-less compress and in addition the provision of compression mechanism working, not only in a vertical plane, as is customary, but also in a horizontal plane and the provision of means to tie the bale while under compression in both directions,

sion attained, without loss from expansion. when the compressive forces are relleved. In the drawmgs:

this retaining substantially all the compresv Figure 1 is a plan V ew on line 1 1 of I Figure 2; v

F1gure2 is a sectional elevation-on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 are details, on an enlarged scale, showing the piston in elevated and lowered position; I

Figure 5 1s a diagram showing the steam connection to the several side platen cylinders;

motor and its linkage in'upper and lower positions. I

Figures 6 and? are details of a side platen end by members 12 and 13, 12being shown as v .a flat plate member and 13 as an I beam, the.

base end .being rested upon a suitable foundation F and suitably secured in posltion. Atthe upper end the four posts support a bed 2,

which ties the four posts and carries a pro-- of the frame.

jecting pressure plate 21, recesses 23 being formed along the sides of the pressure plate 21.

At the lower end of the press, within the posts 1 is mounted a main steam cylinder 3, supported upon the cross-members 13, and

within the cylinder 3 there is a piston 31 and piston rod or ram 32, upon the upper end of. which is mounted a main platen or follower 4 which slides upon and within the posts 1 l/Ve have described and shown the actuating element for the main. compress ing platen 4 as a steam cylinder. It is obvious of course that other actuators might be substituted for the preferred steam cylinder, such for example as a screw or hydraulic power.

The follower 4 carries upon its front or upper surface a pressure plate 41. The bed pressure plate 21 and the follower pressure plate 41 are both correspondingly grooved as at 22 and 42, the grooves corresponding in direction and each being opposed to a groove in the opposite element.

Along the long sides of the pressure plate 41 are mounted in bearings 43?, rock-shafts 43, having rocker arms 44 at eachend of the shaft and mounted upon each rocker shaft is a side platen 5, preferably formed of a series of'fingers 51, between which are slots 52 corresponding with the grooves 22 and 42 in the upper and lower pressure plates.

These slots 52, when the side platens 5 are in vertical operating position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, form open spaces from a point opposite the grooves 22 in pressure plate 21 to a point opposite grooves 42 in pressure plate 41. As shown in the drawings (see Fig. 1), these slots are formed by and between a series of fingers having free outer ends and having hubs 51 which are splined or otherwise secured upon the shafts 43. It is obvious however that the ends of the fingers might be connected, provided that the slots 52 were provided of sufficient length, as indicated above, to register with the grooves in the pressure plates 21 and 41.

The platen 4 carries, at each corner, brackets 45 and to each bracket 45 i s secured a cylinder 6 carrying a plunger 61 within it, the cylinder also being provided with a steamtight gland 62 through which the plunger 61 works. At the upper end of plunger 61 is a lug 63 to which is connected by a suitable pivot bolt a link 64 the other end of which is pivoted to the free end of rocker arm 44 (see Figures 6 and 7), The opposed cylinders 6 at each end of the press are preferably connee-ted by struts 67 and the inner diameter of the lower end of each cylinder is somewhat enlarged to form a chamber 65.

"The employment of a link 64 between the ferred mode, as the motion is'such that a toggle action is developed (see Fig. 2, dotted lines) whichgreat-ly increases the compressive effort, but such linkage is not necessary as the cylinder 6 may be pivoted, instead of fixedly attached, and the plunger 61 directly connected to the rocker-arm 44.

The above is a description of our preferred mechanism, in which steam is the actuating force. In this mechanism steam is supplied to the main cylinder 3 and the cylinders 6, as follows: I

The main cylinder 3 is served with steam by means of an inlet 33 connected to a steam pipe 34 at some point in which is the cuctomary valve to open and close the passage to the boiler and to vent the pipe, between the valve and the cylinder 3, to the atmosphere, if desired, to expedite the dropping of ram 32 and control its movement. The cylinders 6 are served with steam by pipe 66, one end of which connects with chamber 65 in cylinder 6 (see Figs. 2, 6 and 7 The other end of pipe 66 enters piston 31 and is secured therein (see Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5). Directly beneath pipe 66 within the cylinder '3 there is a steam-pipe 35, having'an outside diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of pipe 66, and passing through the bottom of the cylinder 3, to a source of steam supply,

the pipe 35 having between the cylinder and boiler the customary control valve. 2

At the outside, lowerv side of recesses 23 (see Fig. 2) are mounted anti-friction rollers 24 which in the operation of the press cooperate with the outside of fingers 51, guiding and supporting the free ends thereof. 1 i c Operation: The ginnery bale is suit-ably placed in position upon the follower 4, the parts being as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. Steam is now admitted through pipes 35 and 66 to chambers 65 of cylinders. '6. The plungers 61 thereupon move upward and through links 64, forceupward the rocker arms 44, turning the rocker shafts 43 in bearii'igs 43 andlifting the platens 5 tothe position shown in Figure 2 in dotted lines.

ally, each platen 5 serving not .onlyas a compression agent but also as an abutment for the opposed platen 5. Steam is now, admitted to the main cylinder 3 through pipe 34 and the piston 31 vrises.

With the piston 31 all parts resting upon or connected to thepiston rise, namely, the follower 4 and the platens 5 and cylinders 6 mounted on the follower and the pipesystom 66 mounted at one end on the cylinders 6 and at the other end upon the piston 31. The rise of the piston 31 disconnects the pipe-system 66 from the pipe 35 at the bottom of cylinder 3 (see Figures 3 and 4) and thereafter the pipe system 66 is supplied with steam from the main cylinder 3 and pipe 35 may then be closed. The continued rise of the follower 4t compresses the ginnery bale between the pressure plates 21 and 41 and as the bale yields to compression the free end of the platen 5 enters the recesses 23. guided and sustained by the anti-friction rollers 24 mounted on the bed 2. Pressure is continued until the desired density of the bale is attained. The bale ties are then passed around the bale through the grooves 22 in the plate 21, the grooves e2 in plate L1 and the slots 52 in platens 5 and the ties made fast.

The steam pressure is now relieved from main cylinder 3 and the piston and its associated parts permitted to move downward. As the platens 5 move downward their free ends pas out of the recesses 23 and the steam pressure being relieved in main cylinder 3 with which pipes 66 are now in connection, the gates automatically swing downward to open position, asin Fig. 2 and as the piston reaches its lower position the pipe 35 enters the lower end of pipe66 (see Figs. 2and 4) and the press is ready for another cycle of operation.

lhe compressed bale, being tied while under restraint both vertically and laterally, retains substantially all the compression imparted to it. The manual operations required are merely the placing of the ginnery hale upon the follower 4:, placing the ties,

the removal of the compressed bale and the operation of the steam valves.

e claim:

1. In a compress, the combination of a frame, made up of a base and a cooperating abutment, secured in fixed relation by tying members: a transversely grooved pressure face on the abutment; a vertically movable main platen having grooves corresponding wlth the grooves of the pressure face; means to actuate this platen; a pair of opposed side platens pivotally mounted on and upon opposite sides of the main platen and each provided with a multiplicity of slots corresponding with and cooperating with the grooves in the pressure faces of the abutment and main platen; means to actuate the side platens.

2. In a .compress, the combination of a frame, made up of a base and a cooperating abutment, secured in fixed relation by tying members; a transversely-grooved pressure '3. In a compress, the combination of a frame, made up of a base and a cooperating abutment, secured in fixed relation by tying members; a transversely-grooved pressure face on the abutment; a vertically movable main platenhaving grooves corresponding with the grooves of the pressure face; a steam cylinder; a piston and piston rod within that cylinder, the rod supporting the main platen; a pair of opposed side platens pivotally mounted upon opposite sides of the main platen; a multiplicity of steam engines mounted upon the main platen; and severally connected to the several side platens; a branched steam pipe connected to each engine, the main stem passinginto an aperture in the'main piston; a cooperating steam inlet pipe through the bottom of the main cylinder connecting with the main stem of the branched pipe when the main piston is in its lowered position.

4. In a compress, a main platen; a pair of opposed side platens,,mounted upon the main platen; a multiplicity of side-platen actuating motors mounted upon the main platen and operatively connected to the side platens.

Signed at Dallas, Texas, this 4th day of August 1925.

JOHN w. WRIGHT. HARRIS F. UNDERWOOD. 

